My family was definitely the biggest influence in my life and played the biggest role in my schooling. I still hear my mother's voice in my head, "If you're going to do something, do it right or don't bother doing it at all." As much as I couldn't stand hearing her say it, it became ingrained in me, and I took that to school and all of my work. In my family the path was that you got the best grades you could and then went to college, preferably the best one you could get into. Education was key and not something to be taken lightly. My future depended on my getting a good education. They were proud of me when I got good grades and I liked that, so that encouraged me to keep working harder. Also, and I think this is something that has changed through the years, I was taught to respect teachers and do what they asked. A teacher was always right and I knew that if I had a beef or if I was in trouble it was always going to be my fault and that my parents were always going to take the teacher's side. I've never really reflected on that, but I was, and still am, someone who keeps my head down and forges ahead. And while I feel that I can think critically, I'm not one to confront a wrong head on or challenge what an authority is saying. I still will do things simply because I was told to (though not always). Is that because I was part of the herd in school? Was it because of the ways I was raised? Or is it simply who I am?
As for how my life outside school affected my career choice, my mother was one of five girls. They were and are all educators. While I went through my entire education until my senior year in college not knowing what I wanted to do, once the choice of becoming a teacher hit me it became clear there was no other option. When I told my father, he looked and me, smiled and shrugged. He had known it all along. While the decision to become a teacher surprised me, I got the feeling he was wondering what had taken me so long to figure it out--not necessarily because he thought I'd be so great at it, but because it was in the genes.
As for how my life outside school affected my career choice, my mother was one of five girls. They were and are all educators. While I went through my entire education until my senior year in college not knowing what I wanted to do, once the choice of becoming a teacher hit me it became clear there was no other option. When I told my father, he looked and me, smiled and shrugged. He had known it all along. While the decision to become a teacher surprised me, I got the feeling he was wondering what had taken me so long to figure it out--not necessarily because he thought I'd be so great at it, but because it was in the genes.